What began as a class project in 2010, has turned into an musical and cultural adventure for two former language students.
Last summer, Brian Tilley and Ted Watter took "Elementary Pashto" as part of the South Asia Summer Language Institute. Pashto is a language spoken by 40-60 million people, primarily in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
For a class project, the two started The Pashtones, a music group that combines Central and South Asian folk songs with American musical influence.
The Pashtones sing mainly in Pashto with Tilley on vocals and Watter on vocals, guitars, harmonica and percussion.
The duo has found a way to use their language skills to encourage cultural exchange between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States.
They released their debut EP in October 2010 with all proceeds going to efforts to provide flood relief in Pakistan. Listen to their album.
In performing, The Pashtones hope to get people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States talking about music and poetry. Their music creates a cultural middle ground between these two regions and provides an opportunity for people to engage with and learn about potentially unfamiliar cultures.
The group has gained fans steadily around the world using YouTube and Facebook and appearing on radio shows in Virginia and as far away as Islamabad, Pakistan.
The UW-Madison Pashto language program, started in 2009, continues to be integral to The Pashtones’ success.
In addition to introducing Tilley and Watter to the language, UW-Madison Pashto instructor Sanad Shah provides song recommendations and helps the group understand and correctly pronounce lyrics.
"Because we’ve had fairly limited exposure to Pashto, we often need help figuring out the lyrics to the songs we want to perform," Watter says. "Before we start work on the music of a song, we sit down with Sanad and make sure we can understand and pronounce the lyrics. Sanad has been an invaluable resource for us. It would be really hard for us to make music without the help of the Pashto program here at UW-Madison.”
Tilley is a graduate student in Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University and Watter is a graduate student in History at UW-Madison.
For more information:
- The Pashtones
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/pashtones
- YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/thepashtones
The group is donating all proceeds from EP downloads to ongoing flood relief efforts in Pakistan.